1734
3, JULY 2010
Optimal Capacitor Placement and Sizing in
Unbalanced Distribution Systems With Harmonics
Consideration Using Particle Swarm Optimization
Abdelsalam A. Eajal, Student Member, IEEE, and M. E. El-Hawary, Life Fellow, IEEE
Abstract—Shunt capacitors installation in distribution systems
requires optimal placement and sizing. More harmonics are being
injected into distribution systems. Adding shunt capacitors may
lead to high distortion levels. The capacitor placement and sizing
problem is a nonlinear integer optimization problem, with loca-
tions and ratings of shunt capacitors being discrete values. The goal
is to minimize the overall cost of the total real power loss and that
of shunt capacitors while satisfying operating and power quality
constraints. This paper proposes to solve the problem using par-
ticle swarm optimization (PSO). A discrete version of PSO is com-
bined with a radial distribution power flow algorithm (RDPF) to
form a hybrid PSO algorithm (HPSO). The former is employed
as a global optimizer to find the global optimal solution, while the
latter is used to calculate the objective function and to verify bus
voltage limits. To include the presence of harmonics, the devel-
oped HPSO was integrated with a harmonic power flow algorithm
(HPF). The proposed (HPSO-HPF)-based approach is tested on an
IEEE 13-bus radial distribution system (13-Bus-RDS). The find-
ings clearly demonstrate the necessity of including harmonics in
optimal capacitor placement and sizing to avoid any possible prob-
lems associated with harmonics.
Index Terms—Harmonics, particle swarm, shunt capacitors.
I. INTRODUCTION
S HUNT capacitors are commonly used in distribution
systems to reduce power losses, improve voltage profile,
and release system capacity. The achievement of such bene-
fits among other benefits depends greatly on how optimally
these shunt capacitors are installed. Studies have indicated
that approximately 13% of generated power is consumed as
loss at the distribution level. In addition, with the application
of loads, the voltage profile tends to drop along distribution
feeders below acceptable operating limits. Along with power
losses and voltage drops, the increasing growth in electricity
demand requires upgrading the infrastructure of distribution
systems. Shunt capacitors can be of great help in enhancing the
performance of distribution systems. Distribution systems are
inherently unbalanced for several reasons. First, distribution
Manuscript received June 27, 2009. Current version published June 23, 2010.
Paper no. TPWRD-00359-2008.
A. A. Eajal is with the Department of Electrical Engineering University of
Altahadi, Sirt, Libya (e-mail: eajal2000@yahoo.com).
M. E. El-Hawary is with the Department of Electrical Engineering, Dalhousie
University, Halifax, NS, Canada (e-mail: elhawary@dal.ca).
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available online
at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TPWRD.2009.2035425
0885-8977/$26.00 © 2010 IEEE
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY, VOL. 25, NO.
systems supply single and three-phase loads through distribu-
tion transformers. Second, the phases of transmission lines are
unequally loaded. Third, unlike those in transmission systems
overhead lines in distribution systems are not transposed.
Due to the widespread use of harmonic-producing equipment
in distribution systems, harmonics are propagated throughout
those systems. Harmonics are undesirable and cause equipment
overheating due to the excessive losses and potential malfunc-
tioning of electric equipment. Inclusion of shunt capacitors
without considering the presence of harmonic sources in the
system may lead to an increase in harmonic distortion levels
due to resonance between capacitors and the various inductive
elements in the system.
Baghzouz developed a local variations-based heuristic ap-
proach to find the global optimal ratings of shunt capacitors such
that the cost of total real power loss and that of shunt capacitors
were minimized [1]. The optimal capacitor sizing problem was
formulated as a nonlinear integer programming problem with
inequality constraints. The constraints considered were the rms
values of bus voltages and total harmonic distortions. The only
harmonic source assumed was the utility substation. A heuristic
algorithm based on local variations was proposed to overcome
the prohibitive computational time associated with considering
every single potential capacitor size at a given iteration. Yan ac-
counted for the presence of harmonic-producing loads in dis-
tribution systems [2]. A hybrid differential evolution algorithm
was developed to optimally locate and rate shunt capacitors in
distorted distribution systems. A sensitivity test was done prior
to the optimization process to determine the candidate buses
for reactive power compensation. The objective was to mini-
mize the cost of real power losses and that of shunt capacitors
while satisfying some practical constraints. The results indi-
cated that neglecting the presence of harmonic sources could
cause a severe harmonic distortion problem. Carpinelli et al.
solved the capacitor placement and sizing problem in a way that
the overall cost was minimized [3]. The cost function involved
the cost of real power losses, shunt capacitors, and harmonic dis-
tortions. An approximate power flow method and a linear har-
monic power flow method were used to calculate the cost func-
tion at the fundamental and various harmonic frequencies.
Another optimization technique used to solve the optimal
capacitor placement and sizing problem is genetic algorithms
(GA). Abou-Ghazala proposed a GA to find the best combi-
nation of locations and ratings of shunt capacitors such that
the total net savings were maximized [4]. Loss reduction was
achieved through the proper installation of shunt capacitors
EAJAL AND EL-HAWARY: OPTIMAL CAPACITOR PLACEMENT AND SIZING
while rms values of bus voltages and total harmonic distortions
being kept within allowable limits. Nikham et al. also used a
genetic algorithm to solve the optimal capacitor allocation and
sizing problem taking the presence of harmonic sources into
account [5]. The objective function consisted of the cost of real
power losses and that of shunt capacitors to be installed. The
cost associated with the reactive power injection was fixed for
all possible capacitor sizes. In other words, the cost of the re-
active power injected was assumed to be constant independent
of the capacitor size. Masoum et al. developed a hybrid tool
based on maximum sensitivity selection (MSS) and local vari-
ations (LV) to solve the optimal capacitor placement and sizing
problem [6]. The former was used to enhance the convergence
speed by narrowing down the search space, while the latter was
employed to find the global optimal solution. Three harmonic
distortion levels were considered for the system investigated.
The system under investigation involved only one harmonic
source and that was a six-plus converter. The results of the
hybrid MSS-LV algorithm were compared with those of the
MSS-based algorithm. In later work, Masoum et al. applied
a fuzzy logic-based algorithm to solve the same problem [7].
Both the objective function and the constraints were fuzzified.
Alpha cuts were used to direct the search process and to ensure
that the objective function improved each time. The candidate
buses were determined according to the objective function,
constraints and reactive power compensation sensitivities. Two
harmonic distortion levels were considered this time to compare
the results obtained with those obtained by the MSS-based al-
gorithm. A conclusion was drawn that the appropriate locations
and ratings of shunt capacitors would not only improve voltage
profiles but also would reduce harmonic distortion levels.
Masousm et al. took advantage of the capability of genetic
algorithms (GAs) to escape local optima [8]. Improvements
in voltage profiles and power quality were achieved through
the proper installation of fixed shunt capacitors in distorted
distribution systems. The applicability of GA-based approach
was proven to yield to better results compared to the previous
work done by the same authors.
Another method based on particle swarm optimization (PSO)
was offered in [9] to solve the capacitor placement and sizing
problem considering harmonics. The problem was mathemati-
cally modeled as a nonconvex optimization problem. The ob-
jective function was augmented by quadratic penalty functions
to account for inequality constraints. That is, the objective func-
tion was penalized whenever the inequality constraints were vi-
olated. The proposed PSO algorithm did not account for unbal-
anced operating conditions. Khalil et al. [10] proposed a binary
PSO algorithm to find the best locations and ratings of fixed
shunt capacitors in balanced distribution systems. The only har-
monic source considered was the substation voltage. Their ob-
jective was to properly place and size shunt capacitors while
keeping the cost of real power losses and that of shunt capacitors
at a minimum. The objective function was subject to equality
and inequality constraints.
II. PROBLEM FORMULATION
The optimal capacitor placement and sizing problem is
formulated as a constrained nonlinear integer optimization
1735
problem with both locations and sizes of shunt capacitors
being discrete. The objective function encompasses the total
cost of the total real power loss and that of shunt capacitors.
The objective function is restricted by equality and inequality
constraints.
Objective Function: The goal is to minimize the cost of the
total real power loss and that of the shunt capacitor installation.
The cost function is given by
(1)
where
annual cost per unit of the real power loss
($/kW/year);
annual cost per unit of the reactive power injection
at bus i ($/kVAR/year);
reactive power injection at bus i (kVAR);
total number of shunt capacitors to be installed;
total real power loss (kW).
The total real power loss is defined by
(2)
where
number of branches;
smallest harmonic order of interest;
highest harmonic order of interest.
The fundamental component of the total real power loss is
calculated using a three phase power flow algorithm (RDPF)
[11].
The harmonic component of the total real power loss is com-
puted by a harmonic power flow algorithm (HPF) [12].
Note that the harmonic component of the total real power loss
is small compared with the fundamental one. However, this por-
tion of the total real power loss increases as harmonic-producing
loads continue to increase in RDS. Consequently, the undesir-
able presence of harmonics will cause more equipment over-
heating, stress on equipment insulation, and equipment failure.
Not to mention of course the interference with communication
networks. It should be pointed out that the cost of the real power
loss per unit is fixed. However, the cost of the reactive power in-
jection per unit varies from one capacitor size to another [1].
Generally, the larger the capacitor size is, the cheaper it be-
comes.
Constraints: Along with the objective function, there is an-
other significant part of the optimization model that needs to
be defined and that is the constraints. In real applications, there
are always limits on the choices of control variables. The con-
straints considered in this research are of two types: equality and
inequality.
1736
A. Equality Constraints
The equality constraints are those associated with the non-
linear power flow equations. It is noted in many published pa-
pers that the power flow equations are the real and reactive
power mismatch equations. The reason for this is that modified
versions of conventional power flow programs such as Newton-
Raphson method and Gauss Siedel method are widely used. In
this work, the power flow representation is based on bus current
injections and thus the equality constraints are the bus current
mismatch equations. The equality constraints are expressed in a
vector form as follows:
(3)
where:
vector of state (dependent) variables;
vector of control (independent) variables.
B. Inequality Constraints
The inequality constraints are those associated with the bus
voltages, total harmonic distortion levels, and shunt capacitors
to be installed.
1) Bus Voltage Limits: The bus voltage magnitudes are to
be kept within acceptable operating limits throughout the opti-
mization process
(4)
where
lower bound of bus voltage limits;
upper bound of bus voltage limits;
rms value of the th bus voltage and defined by
(5)
where
number of buses.
The rms value of the th bus voltage involves only the funda-
mental component, the first term of (5), when harmonics are not
of interest.
2) Total Harmonic Distortion Limits: The total harmonic dis-
tortion at each bus is to be kept less or equal to the maximum
allowable harmonic distortion level as shown
(6)
where
maximum allowable harmonic distortion
level at each bus.
3) Number and Sizes of Shunt Capacitors: There are con-
straints associated with the shunt capacitors themselves. Capac-
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY, VOL. 25, NO. 3, JULY 2010
itors that are commercially available come in discrete sizes. That
is, the shunt capacitors to be dealt with are multiple integers of
the smallest capacitor size available
(7)
where
smallest capacitor size available.
It is worth mentioning that the total reactive power injection is
not to exceed the total reactive power demand in RDS
(8)
where
total reactive power demand.
III. PARTICLE SWARM OPTIMIZATION
PSO is a metaheuristic optimization technique developed in
1995 by Kennedy and Eberhart [13]–[15]. The fundamental idea
behind the PSO algorithm is that a population called a swarm is
randomly generated. The swarm consists of individuals called
particles. Each particle in the swarm represents a potential solu-
tion of the optimization problem. Each particle moves through
a D-dimensional search space at a random velocity. Each par-
ticle updates its velocity and position according to the following
equations:
(9)
(10)
where
inertia weight;
acceleration constants;
two random numbers in the range of [0, 1];
best position ever visited by the particle at the
th iteration;
;
global best position in the entire swarm;
.
IV. SOLUTION METHOD
As one of this research objectives, a hybrid particle swam
optimization algorithm (HPSO) was developed to find the best
combination of the locations and sizes of single phase shunt ca-
pacitors in unbalanced radial distribution systems (unbalanced-
RDS). The HPSO algorithm combines a discrete version of PSO
with a three phase power flow algorithm (RDPF). The former
is employed as a global optimizer to optimally locate and rate
shunt capacitors, while the latter is utilized to minimize the bus
EAJAL AND EL-HAWARY: OPTIMAL CAPACITOR PLACEMENT AND SIZING
Fig. 1. Flowchart of the HPSO-HP-based algorithm.
current mismatch equations (i.e., the power flow equations). The
developed HPSO algorithm starts with generating a swarm of
particles randomly in the feasible region of the search space.
The feasible swarm is passed to the RDPF subroutine as ini-
tial guess to minimize bus current injection mismatch equa-
tions. Each particle recalls its best position associated with the
best fitness value (i.e., the total cost). Each particle records the
best position achieved by the entire swarm. The update process
of particles’ positions results in continuous values of particles’
positions. Thus, discretization of particles’ position vectors is
made. Once the updated particles’ positions are discretized, the
particles go through feasibility check to ensure that no particle
flies outside the feasible region [16]. When the presence of har-
monics is considered, the total harmonic distortion limit at each
bus is included as constraints in the optimization problem to en-
sure that the harmonic distortion levels at all busses are within
the allowable limits. A Harmonic power flow (HPF) subroutine
is incorporated with the HPSO algorithm to calculate the har-
monic bus voltages, harmonic real power losses, and total har-
1737
Fig. 2. Unbalanced-13-bus radial distribution system.
monic distortions. The flowchart of Fig. 1 illustrates the HPSO-
HPF-based algorithm that combines the HPF algorithm with the
HPSO algorithm.
V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The three algorithms adopted in this work, namely, RDPF,
HPF, and PSO, were implemented in MATLAB computing en-
vironment on a Dell Laptop with Intel Pentium M processor
of 1.86 GHz and RAM of 1 GB. The developed algorithms
were tested on an unbalanced-13-bus radial distribution system
(unbalanced-13-bus-RDS) whose single line diagram shown in
Fig. 2. The unbalanced-13-bus-RDS consists of single, double,
and three phase lines and loads. The total real and reactive power
demand are 3464.1 kW and 1568.9 kVAR respectively. The
system loads are of two types, distributed loads and spot loads.
The only supply source in the system is the substation at bus
1. Bus 1 is treated as a slack bus with a constant voltage on
each phase of its three phases. The other buses (2–13) are mod-
eled as PQ constant buses. A complete description of the system
can be found in [17]. The MVA base value is 10 and the line to
line base voltage is the same as the feeder nominal voltage 4.16
kV. The bus voltages are to be kept within 10% of the nom-
inal voltage throughout the optimization process. The cost of
real power losses is 168 U.S.$/kW/year, while the cost of the
installed capacitor is a function of the capacitor size [1]. Table I
lists some commercially available capacitor sizes with their cor-
responding costs [1].
The number of shunt capacitors to be installed is not to exceed
10 banks of a discrete size of 150 kVAR each. That is to say, the
total reactive power injection of these capacitors is not to exceed
the total reactive power demand (1568.9 kVAR).
To include the presence of harmonics, the developed HPSO
was integrated with a harmonic power flow algorithm (HPF).
The proposed (HPSO-HPF) based approach is tested on the
1738
TABLE I
COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE CAPACITOR SIZES
WITH THEIR CORRESPONDING COSTS
same test system (13-Bus-RDS). For the distorted voltage-13-
Bus-RDS shown in Fig. 2, harmonic-producing loads, namely
fluorescent lighting, adjustable speed drives (ASD), and non-
specific sources such as PCs, TVs, and etc, are considered. The
typical harmonic spectrum of these nonlinear loads is provided
in [18]. All loads are treated as constant PQ spot loads for har-
monic studies. Load composition in terms of harmonic sources
is given in [18].
The developed HPSO-HPF-based approach is applied to find
the optimal locations and sizes of shunt capacitors in an unbal-
anced-IEEE-13-bus radial distribution system (13-Bus-RDS)
while taking harmonics into account. The total harmonic dis-
tortion levels are to be maintained within 5% of the voltage
value as recommended by the IEEE standard 519-1992.
In the presence of harmonics, three different cases are consid-
ered to investigate the impact of shunt capacitor installation on
the voltage profiles, total harmonic distortions, total real power
loss, and net savings.
• Case 1 represents the system with harmonics consideration
before capacitor installation.
• Case 2 represents the system without harmonics consider-
ation after capacitor installation.
• Case 3 represents the system with harmonics consideration
after capacitor installation.
The PSO parameters were tuned to enhance the performance
of the proposed algorithm. For one shunt capacitor to be in-
stalled, 20 independent runs were carried out for each PSO pa-
rameter. The maximum number of iterations was taken as 50 for
the tuning process of each parameter. It was found that the PSO
algorithm was less sensitive to its parameters for small problem
dimension (the problem dimension was the shunt capacitor lo-
cation and size). However, the larger the problem dimension is,
the more sensitive the PSO algorithm becomes. A swarm size of
20 particles, acceleration constants of 2, and a particle’s max-
imum velocity of 4 were selected. As for the inertia weight (w),
it was reduced linearly from 0.9 to 0.4 as recommended in [19].
From the results shown in Table II, installing a shunt capac-
itor of 600 kVAR at phase c of bus 6 in case 2 will reduce the
total real power losses from 192.7494 kW to 179.1373 kW and
profit the utility 2,099.694 U.S.$/year. The capacitor size re-
quired to bring the violated bus voltages back within the max-
imum and minimum bus voltage limits are the same for cases
2 and 3, while the PSO-based algorithm selected phase c of
bus 5 to be the optimal location of the shunt capacitor in case
3. Before capacitor installation (case 1), the cost of real power
losses is 32,326.694 U.S.$/year. In case 2 (after capacitor instal-
lation without harmonics consideration), the cost of real power
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY, VOL. 25, NO. 3, JULY 2010
TABLE II
RESULTS OF THE OPTIMAL PLACEMENT AND SIZING OF ONE SHUNT CAPACITOR
IN A 13-BUS-RDS
losses is reduced to 30,227 U.S.$/year, while in case 3 (after ca-
pacitor installation with harmonics consideration), the cost of
real power losses is reduced to 30,271 U.S.$/year. The net sav-
ings in case 2 (when harmonics are neglected) are slightly better
than those obtained in case 3 (when harmonics are considered).
However, the maximum total harmonic distortion level of case
2 is much higher than that of case 3
.
The total harmonic distortion reduction in case 3 with respect
to case 1 is
The total harmonic distortion reduction in case 3 with respect to
case 2 is
The reduction in the maximum total harmonic distortion level in
case 3 with respect to cases 1 and 2 justifies the inclusion of har-
monics in the optimal capacitor placement and sizing problem.
In Table III, the optimal solution of the HPSO-HPF-based al-
gorithm for the optimal placement and sizing of one shunt ca-
pacitor yields voltage profile improvement in both cases (2&3),
(see columns 5 and 7 in Table III). However, installing a shunt
capacitor without taking harmonics into account (case2) caused
a severe harmonic distortion problem (i.e., harmonic distortion
levels at all load buses violate the maximum allowable distortion
level (5%)), (see column 6 in Table III). In contrast, recognizing
the fact that harmonics are propagated throughout distribution
systems and including their presence will keep the harmonic dis-
tortion levels within the limits (see column 8 in Table III).
The convergence characteristics of the proposed HPSO-HPF-
based approach for cases 2 and 3 in the optimal placement and
sizing of one shunt capacitor problem with the total cost being
EAJAL AND EL-HAWARY: OPTIMAL CAPACITOR PLACEMENT AND SIZING
TABLE III
VOLTAGE PROFILES AND TOTAL HARMONIC DISTORTIONS OF A 13-BUS-RDS
FOR CASES 1, 2, AND 3 OF THE OPTIMAL PLACEMENT AND SIZING OF ONE
SHUNT CAPACITOR
the objective are illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 respectively. Both
Figures indicate the convergence speed of the proposed HPSO-
HPF-based solution methodology in finding the global optimal
solution of the capacitor allocation and sizing problem.
In order to do more testing on the proposed HPSO-HPF-
based algorithm, the capacitor placement and sizing problem is
extended to multiple capacitors. Three single phase capacitors
are considered instead of one capacitor. The maximum reactive
power injection of these capacitors is not to exceed the total re-
active demand of the system.
As in the case of one shunt capacitor, the PSO parameters
have to be properly adjusted. Taking the total real power loss
without harmonic components as an objective, 20 independent
1739
Fig. 3. Convergence characteristics of the HPSO-HPF-based algorithm for
case 2 in the optimal placement and sizing of one shunt capacitors.
Fig. 4. Convergence characteristics of the HPSO-HPF-based algorithm for
case 3 in the optimal placement and sizing of one shunt capacitors.
TABLE IV
RESULTS OF THE OPTIMAL PLACEMENT AND SIZING OF
THREE SHUNT CAPACITORS IN A 13-BUS-RDS
runs were conducted to find the best settings of the PSO param-
eters. 100 iterations were taken as the maximum number of it-
erations to adjust each of these parameters. A swarm size of 25
particles, acceleration factors of 2 each, and a maximum par-
ticle’s velocity of 3 were selected.
The developed PSO-based algorithm was able to find the op-
timal locations and ratings of three shunt capacitors such that
the overall cost was minimized. The simulation results are re-
ported in Table IV. Without harmonics consideration (case 2)
1740
TABLE V
VOLTAGE PROFILES AND TOTAL HARMONIC DISTORTIONS OF A 13-BUS-RDS
FOR CASES 1, 2, AND 3 OF THE OPTIMAL PLACEMENT AND SIZING OF THREE
SHUNT CAPACITORS
the developed PSO-based algorithm selected bus 6 as the op-
timal location for three single-phase capacitors with optimal rat-
ings of 450, 300, and 600 kVAR as shown in Table IV. In case
2, the real power losses were reduced to 164.9870 kW, while in
case 3 (with harmonics consideration), the proposed PSO-algo-
rithm selected phase a of bus 5 and phases b and c of bus 6 to
be the optimal locations of the three shunt capacitors with the
same ratings. It can be observed that the reactive power injec-
tions required to minimize the total cost in case 2 (when har-
monics are neglected) are equal to the reactive power injections
in case 3 (when harmonics are considered). Moreover, the total
real power loss in case 3 is higher than that in case 2. As a re-
sult, the net savings obtained in case 2 is better than that in case
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY, VOL. 25, NO. 3, JULY 2010
Fig. 5. Convergence characteristics of the HPSO-HPF-based algorithm for
case 2 in the optimal placement and sizing of three shunt capacitors.
Fig. 6. Convergence characteristics of the HPSO-HPF-based algorithm for
case 3 in the optimal placement and sizing of three shunt capacitors.
3. However, the optimal solution in case 3 yields a 61.27% re-
duction in total harmonic distortion with respect to case 1 and
90.927% reduction in total harmonic distortion with respect to
case 2. Consequently, the net savings obtained in case 2 can be
justifiably sacrificed to avoid any possible damage to the elec-
tric equipment of both the utility and the customers.
Table V demonstrates that the proper installation of three
shunt capacitors in the 13-Bus-RDS leads to voltage profile im-
provement (see columns 5 and 7 in Table V). The harmonic
distortion levels at some load buses in case 2, however, exceed
the IEEE standard 519-1992 due to neglecting the presence of
harmonic sources in the system (column 6 in Table V). In con-
trast, taking harmonics into account (case 3) maintained the har-
monic distortion levels at load buses within the allowable limits
, (column 8 in Table V). The convergence
characteristics of the developed HPSO-HPF-based approach for
cases 2 and 3 in the optimal placement and sizing of three shunt
capacitors problem with the total cost being the objective are
depicted in Figs. 5 and 6.
VI. CONCLUSION
In this paper, the developed HPSO-HPF-based algorithm was
tested on an unbalanced 13-bus test system to find the optimal
locations and sizes of shunt capacitors taking harmonics into ac-
count. The objective was to minimize the total cost of the system
real power loss and the shunt capacitors to be installed. The ob-
jective function was subject to some operating constraints and
power quality constraints. The outcome of this research is that
neglecting the presence of harmonics in the system may lead to
EAJAL AND EL-HAWARY: OPTIMAL CAPACITOR PLACEMENT AND SIZING
undesirable harmonic distortion levels causing more damage to
the electric equipment of both the electric utility and customers.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to thank the reviewers for their valu-
able comments and recommendations.
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Abdelsalam A. Eajal (S’00) received the B.S. de-
gree in electrical engineering from the University of
Altahadi, Sirt, Libya, in 2001 and the M.A.Sc. degree
in electrical engineering from Dalhousie University,
Halifax, NS, Canada, in 2008.
Currently, he is a staff member at Altahadi Univer-
sity, Sirt, Libya. His research interests involve appli-
cations of optimization techniques in power system
planning and operation.
M. E. El-Hawary (LF’09) received the Bachelor’s
degree in electrical engineering (Hons.) from the
University of Alexandria, Egypt, in 1965, and
the Ph.D. degree from the University of Alberta,
Edmonton, 1972, where he was a Killam Memorial
Fellow.
Currently, hs is Associate Dean of Engineering
and has been Professor of Electrical and Computer
Engineering at Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS,
Canada, since 1981. He served on faculty, and was
a chair of the Electrical Engineering Department
at Memorial University of Newfoundland for eight years. He was Associate
Professor of Electrical Engineering at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro
for two years and was Instructor at the University of Alexandria. He pioneered
many computational and artificial intelligence solutions to problems in eco-
nomic/environmental operation of power systems. He has written ten textbooks
and monographs, and more than 120 refereed journal articles. He has consulted
and taught for more than 30 years.
Dr. El-Hawary is a Fellow of the IEEE, the Engineering Institute of Canada,
(EIC), and the Canadian Academy of Engineering (CAE).